Natural disasters are an ever-present threat to humanity, so why should there not be an ever-present solution? The goal of this thesis is to create a proposal for a new typology of structures that are designed primarily as permanent disaster shelters. These structures would focus on housing and defending evacuees during the initial stages of a natural disaster as well as provide services to those within it such as medical services, warm food and communication with those outside. This thesis to a lesser extent also will explore and critique current practices with assigning locations as disaster shelters by highlighting their failures and then provides solutions through the design of the final product. Finally, this thesis will define a potential solution through design explorations on a selected site in New York City’s lower Manhattan. This project can act as a template for how future designers can create similar structures specific to their sites.